GRACE & PEACE
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher (2 Tim. 1:8-11)
Paul begins with an exhortation to Timothy to not be ashamed of the testimony about the Lord. This tells us that there was at least an off chance that Timothy might be feeling pressure to be ashamed of it, and so we have to say a word about that. In the next section (v. 12), Paul says that he was not ashamed, but on various occasions in his ministry, he asked the believers to pray for him, that he would have boldness. This was not because Paul (or Timothy) struggled with stage fright. It was because the gospel presented a potent threat to principalities and powers who had every intention of fighting back. Paul had been flogged as many times as he had, for example, because he was doing something that threatened the establishment. That is the context of this kind of exhortation — don’t be ashamed before tribunals and threats. Don’t be ashamed before those who will try to flog you into shame. This can be seen in the phrase Paul adds — “nor of me his prisoner.” When one of the leaders of your new religious faith is in jail all the time, it might occur to some more respectable Christians that surely there must be a better way for us to frame our message. And by frame our message, they really mean trim our message.
Paul then moves into the testimony itself, that which is causing all the trouble. When Paul and Timothy suffer, it is not because they are difficult to get along with, but rather because they are “suffering for the gospel.” They are doing so by the power of God. Paul then goes into a description of that gospel, and we begin to see how antithetical that gospel is to the world’s way of thinking. First, those affected by the gospel are saved and called to a holy calling. But though it is holy, it is not prideful — it is not because of our works. Our holiness is the result of His purpose and grace, not our purpose and work. This grace was poured out on us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, which takes us and our paltry works right out of consideration as a possible cause. That grace before creation is manifested now in the appearing of Jesus Christ, who abolished death in His resurrection, and brought life and immortality out to center stage through the gospel. Paul was appointed a preacher, apostle and teacher of all this, and the more he talked about it, the more the world’s agents insisted on getting that message off center stage. Their method was to disgrace and dishonor the emissaries. But Paul knew that it is grace to be disgrace and an honor to be dishonored.